Aya no Tsuzumi (The Twill Hand Drum) : PhotoStory

An old man who sweeps the palace garden beats a drum so that the imperial consort he loves will appear. Mysteriously, the drum makes no sound.

Weak and old, he hits the drum with all his might, but there is no sound.

The drum continues to make no sound. Distressed that he can’t see the consort, the old man sinks into the pond.

The consort hears from an official that the old man has thrown himself into the pond. She starts to hear the sound of a drum.

The old man’s obsessed love has turned him into a demon. His ghost appears before the consort and voices his bitterness.

The ghost of the old man blames the consort, telling her to beat the drum and get a sound from it.

The ghost shakes his whip and continues to reproach the woman, who runs away along the side the pond in a state of confusion.